Replacing All Brake Lines - A Ton of Questions

[RWBeringer4x4]

There, I fixed it

It's still too thick to get a clip through - so I'll have to wait until I'm back by an arbor wheel or angle grinder to thin it down about 2mm. So long gold plating...

That is one burly bracket...

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Ok, more questions for the brake gurus:

Pulled my old line running from the body down to the axle T-fitting. The old line is a short-shanked male end, with a copper washer. The new line is a long shanked, shouldered male head. There's no way the entire length will thread in to the point that a sealing washer would seal anything.

Will the shouldered head work here (make a seal without the washer), or do I need to go hunting for more lines?

Alternatively, can I cut the existing male threads down to size, and seal using a copper washer? I would also suggest something even more redneck, like stacking copper washers to get proper thread engagement, but I don't think, with the shoulder, I'd get enough threads engaged to be safe...

 

[Stumpalama]

EDIT: You are changing the brakes from drum to disk; so IIRC, the drum brake cylinder used the copper crush washer to seal the fitting, where the new disk brake caliper uses the flair fitting. So you will still be good to go, just my previous explanation was off.


It is the inner portion that seals the fitting, not the shoulder, so you will be fine. All of mine show some thread. It would be nearly impossible to perfectly match the flair and the shoulder of every fitting to match up perfectly so the flair AND the shoulder sealed the fitting.
Run it.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

EDIT: You are changing the brakes from drum to disk; so IIRC, the drum brake cylinder used the copper crush washer to seal the fitting, where the new disk brake caliper uses the flair fitting. So you will still be good to go, just my previous explanation was off.


It is the inner portion that seals the fitting, not the shoulder, so you will be fine. All of mine show some thread. It would be nearly impossible to perfectly match the flair and the shoulder of every fitting to match up perfectly so the flair AND the shoulder sealed the fitting.
Run it.

Thanks stump - I actually think you were "more right" the first time, since I am talking the t-fitting on the axle here, and not the soft line to the brakes themselves. Hopefully what you said is still true! I'm sure as long as the inside of the fitting on the axle is set up for a flare it will be - it was just too dark to see last night.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

@Stumpalama - following up on our past discussion, I'm revisiting it because I pulled the T-fitting today. The central line (where the soft line connects) has no internal, "male" flare. The two side connections that had hard lines running from them definitely do. See below for comparison:

Side of T-fitting, flared:

Center of T-fitting - no internal flare fitting:

Seems like this set-up relies on a copper washer to seal. Are you still confident the shouldered flare fitting on the new hose work if there is no male portion to mate to in the fitting?

If not - is there a good alternative? Stacking copper washers? Cutting down the threads on the new brake line to rely on the cooper seal?

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

And now a question for everyone else:

How does this look for a new line routing? This is sort of "roughed out" but I THINK I have clearance between the steering shaft, engine mount, and frame, to run a hard line through. See the blue wire in these shots. I'm thinking I could route the hard line down the inner fender to the top of the frame, then down under the steering shaft, in front of the engine mount, to a tombstone welded to the inside of the frame rail right in front of the engine mount. Then, run the soft line down to the axle. This should keep everything pretty well away from the exhaust. My only concern is I'm not sure how much the frame will flex. I only have about 1.25 in. between the frame and the steering column, here:

Thoughts? @DSRTRDR @bikersmurf @Cdaniel?

 

[Stumpalama]

I wonder if you can use a T fitting from an FJ62? I know where to find one. . I can pull it and drop it in a padded envelop and mail it to you to give it a try. I don't see why it wouldn't work.

I wouldn't trust that the flared male fitting would seal to the non flared female. As you said, the original fitting relies on the copper crush washer to seal and I wouldn't trust stacked copper washers.

 

[bikersmurf]

1.25" seems like plenty to allow for frame flex. I've seen the hood shift 1" over the 3' of the hood length, but at most you'd have 1/2" flex... Which would give you 3/4" safety margin.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

@Stumpalama - I'll shoot you a PM RE that T-fitting - it's definitely worth a look.

I guess I'll see how good I am at bending lines, and try to run it under the steering column...

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

@Stumpalama - I'll shoot you a PM RE that T-fitting - it's definitely worth a look.

I guess I'll see how good I am at bending lines, and try to run it under the steering column...